PNB donates to Walldogs

The Walldogs Host Committee has received a $1,000 donation from Peoples National Bank of Kewanee.

The donation helps sponsor a mural devoted to the Cole Brothers Air Show that will be painted on the side of PNB’s main Kewanee location at 207 N. Tremont St.

The Walldogs are a group of sign and mural painters from around the globe. Each year, they select one community to host a Walldogs Meet. In return, that community receives the gift of 10-15 vibrant, historically-themed murals.

Peoples National Bank was founded as Peoples State Savings Bank in 1928 and has been a venerable community institution for 85 years. It has facilities in Annawan, Bradford, Manlius, Sheffield and Tampico, as well as two facilities in Kewanee.

“We are extremely pleased that Peoples National Bank stepped up in this way,” said Dianne Packee, co-chair of the Walldogs Host Committee.

“PNB does a lot for the community and all the communities that they serve,” she said. “We’re also honored that PNB is allowing the Walldogs to paint the Cole Brothers Air Show mural on the side of their headquarters facility.”

The Cole Brothers Air Show had its beginning in 1946 at the dedication of the re-opening of the Kewanee Airport after World War II. The Cole Brothers — Marion, Duane, Arnold and Lester — developed a traveling air show that amazed spectators with aerobatic performances across the United States for 17 years.

“Peoples National Bank has always supported the local communities it serves and this project will be fantastic for Kewanee’s downtown,” said Randy Carton, PNB vice president. “We’re thrilled with the prospect of mural on the side of our building and are excited about the community revitalization and tourism impacts the murals will have on Kewanee.”

Besides PNB, major contributors to the Walldogs effort in Kewanee include the City of Kewanee, Great Dane Trailers, Community State Bank, Preferred Home Health Care, Reiman’s Harley-Davidson, State Bank of Toulon, Rumbold and Kuhn Inc., Sullivan Door Company, Cerno’s Bar and Grill, Cernovich Auto and Truck Wrecking, Dr. Rick Cernovich, Aunt Daisy’s Bed and Breakfast, Doctors Hubbard and Hubbard, the Kenneth Lay Family, Fred and Shirley Leggett, Ted Canellos, the Ken and Pam Mott Family, Mabel Andris and the Andris Family, the Tim Sheets Family, Bob and Martina Jacobs, Phyllis Dotson, and the Byron Bryner Family.

For more information about the Walldogs and the Walldogs Host Committee, contact Dianne Packee at (309) 312-0168 or Russell Medley at 853-5000.